


Second Chances

by HisokaMorow



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, More tags will be added as this progresses, Self-Indulgent, Trans Character, grad student hisoka decides to be a parent, rating may change later as well
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-10-29 00:22:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10842573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HisokaMorow/pseuds/HisokaMorow
Summary: In a world filled with greed, war, and corruption, a group of abused kids has decided to fight back.There are now second chances for those who do not want to spend their entire adulthoods recovering from a “childhood” that hurt them.





	1. Act 1 Scene 1

**Author's Note:**

> This might as well be my first ~real~ attempt at fanfiction. Don’t judge too harshly. None of these characters or Hunter X Hunter belong to me and I’m not making any money off of any of this.  
> I have no idea what this will turn into. Tags may be updated as this progresses, however I don’t plan on the G rating changing at all. This shouldn’t get sexual anywhere. I didn’t watch HXH in English, so some things that I didn’t intend to diverge from canon might do so, but this entire thing is less than halfway related to canon anyway.  
> I am an abuse survivor, this is mainly self-indulgent and for myself and not meant to reflect reality. Potential trigger warning for mentions of abuse at the beginning, no detailed descriptions of anything awful should appear though.   
> Welcome and enjoy ^^

>FADE IN

>EXIST  
You hardly know who you are, but you know that you are.  
The war has been won. Your time is here.  
Your time to try again.  
You’re far too exhausted to even participate, to the extent that everything feels like a game...you’re not real, nothing is real, you’re observing the world through the thick glass wall of dissociation and it’s only a few more steps until you’re out forever.

>OPEN EYES  
It’s your last day in the world as you know it, and you’re spending it in an uncomfortable hospital waiting room chair. You woke up at 5 AM after minutes, hours, days, years of waiting, just to lock the door behind you, drop your keys into management’s deposit box, take a taxi with what remained in your wallet, and sit here and wait again. The ceiling lights are blinding, and all you want is to sleep...

>CLOSE EYES  
Actually, your last morning. You’ve been counting down the entire 24 hours since you woke up yesterday (on the floor of your now-bare studio apartment, with a blanket and pillow)- while you had breakfast (instant coffee and a banana, on the floor as well), packed your last things to give away (one overflowing box plus pillow: your sketchbook, blanket, dishes, a few books), cleaned up around the apartment (vacuuming, again, and the sink), wrote a final thank-you note to all the people who helped make your future possible (complete with deactivating your remaining social media and stuffing your laptop into the giveaway box: the acquaintance who volunteered to pick it up will surely wipe the hard drive and reinstall Windows), spoke on the phone with one of the doctors you’ll surely see today...  
You recall yesterday’s conversation. “Are you sure?...not allowed to eat for 12 hours...paperwork...personal affairs...caregiver...are you sure?...Are you sure?...Are you sure?”  
You’re sure you could have gotten some more sleep.

>LOOK AT WATCH  
It’s 6:48 in the morning. You’ll wonder if you’ll get to have your watch again. It wasn’t on the list you gave them...you think. Or maybe it was. Even if it was, you doubt you’d get this exact one. But how would you even know? It’s not like you’d recognize it.

>EXAMINE SELF  
You’re wearing jeans and a dark green hoodie, which you also realize you’ll never see again. You forgot to brush your dark hair, and it hangs heavily in your face. Unfortunately, it doesn’t save you from the light.

>EXAMINE POCKETS  
Nothing in them. They said not to bring anything. “You’ll get everything once the operation is over, and all you’ll have to do before then is sign paperwork.”

>LOOK  
A large, rectangular room filled with chairs, one of which you occupy. Normally you’d expect a coffee table with magazines or one of those wooden toys where you move the beads around, but there’s nothing. Just empty reception next to the entrance and a door in the corner.

Oh - it opened. That must be the doctor.  
A man in a white lab coat looks out. “Come on in.”  
You don’t even look at his face. He leads you through the door, down a hallway painted the same shade of baby blue as the waiting room walls. Into one of the rooms.  
“Have a seat, please.”

>SIT DOWN  
You sit in a chair. He sits down behind the desk in the corner.  
“All ready? We’re almost ready too, we’re just going to have you sign off on a few more things. How are you feeling?”  
You nod. You mean, “I’m good.” You think that’s what you mean, anyway.  
He hands you a sheet of paper covered in ten-point font. “This one’s that you’re you, you’re not in any way impaired and you’re agreeing to everything that’s about to happen. It’s not too late to go back.”

>SIGN PAPER  
“Which name do I use?” you ask. “The new one or the old one?”  
“The old one. Or you can draw a picture, we don’t care.”  
You scribble a triangle with an eye in the center.

“This one’s about your guardian. Once again, if you’d like to meet him now, you have the opportunity. He’s in this building, we’ll be briefing him on last-minute details while you undergo the operation. As a reminder, most patients do prefer to meet their guardians beforehand. You’re allowed to pick and choose. If you don’t like them, we - and you - can select a new one. There’s a whole list of people who would love to meet you.”

>DECLINE  
“I think I’m good. I’d prefer to meet him then. And I’ll take your word for it that he’s decent.”

“Well, whatever you say.” The doctor sighs. “Here, you’re signing off that your memory is getting wiped, but all your documents, including a video recording of this meeting, will be passed to your new guardian. He can do whatever he wants with them, including destroying them, though we’d prefer you end up seeing them eventually. He’s also trusted to keep in contact with us regarding your well-being and make your choices for you up until a certain point, so you’re releasing - essentially everything.”

>SIGN PAPER  
“Alright, last one. Check that all the data here is okay. Gon, eight years old, your birthday is May 5th, here’s a list of all the things you requested.”  
All your things are disappearing, and you’re losing contact with everyone you’ve ever known.

>READ  
Another release. Also your list of clothes. You don’t want to keep anything from this life.

>SIGN PAPER  
“Alright, let’s go.”

You’re led into another room with an operating table. “Change into this, please.”  
You do.  
You lay down and close your eyes.  
You hear the door open, conversation from far off as if you were under water. Well, you’re ready.  
There’s a whirring noise, then everything fades to black.

>FADE OUT


	2. Act 1 Scene 2

A doctor and a nurse, plainly dressed, tower above a little boy in a greyish-white plaid button-up, dark jeans, and green sneakers. The doctor holds a bulging yellow envelope labeled HISOKA, then lower, GON (8) in black Sharpie.  
“Are you ready?” he bends his knees and ruffles the boy’s black, green-tipped hair.   
“Of course!”  
“Let’s go.”

Hisoka, Hisoka, Hisoka, Hisoka. They’d repeated his name ever since Gon woke up. At first, they’d tested his “new” memories.  
“My name is Gon!” he’d exclaimed. “Did you forget already? It’s written on my bracelet!”   
“How old are you?”  
“Eight years old!”  
“What’s your favorite color?”  
“Green!”  
“Alright, buddy, last one. What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?”  
“Everything!”  
“Nice! Do you want a popsicle?”  
“Yeah!”  
The doctor pulled out a cherry one seemingly out of nowhere.   
“Whoa! Was that magic?”  
“You can call it that.”

The doctor pushed open a set of seemingly giant doors and the next second, all Gon felt was light - so much bright light - and oh, how loud everything was. The highrise building lobby, which had been empty and dimly lit in the morning, was crowded by midday. Not everyone had to go to the hospital, of course - most of the building was offices, software and investment firms crowded the higher stories, and the top several were residential. Moreover, it was just about everyone’s lunch break.  
So many people, yet one clearly stood out in the crowd - a tall, muscular jester with slicked back red-and-purple hair, wearing a colorful outfit (purple around his neck, waist, wrists, and ankles, a short tank top and pants, both white, dark heels with pointed toes) marked with a bright heart and diamond on the front. A group of office workers nearby whispered and pointed (comparing their suits to his, perhaps?), and not a single person walking from the entrance to the elevators did so without turning around to stare. He didn’t seem to notice or care.  
The second the jester saw Gon and the doctor, he kneeled and spread his arms. Gon instantly knew, and within a second he was far ahead of the medical staff and accelerating into Hisoka’s arms.  
“Oof - you must be Gon. How very nice to see you~”  
He spoke in a smooth, velvety voice, half suspicious and half relaxing.  
“Hisoka!” Gon wrapped his arms tightly around Hisoka’s neck, and the jester used his left arm to support Gon and proceeded to stand up while holding him.   
The doctor caught up to them and handed Hisoka the envelope. “You two should be all set. Obviously if you need anything, feel free to call, email, whatever. Have a safe journey home.  
Hisoka bowed his head slightly. “Thank you so much~ Do take care. Gon, are you ready to go home?”  
“Yeah!” Gon exclaimed, unwrapping one arm and waving to the doctor. “Bye! Thank you!”  
Hisoka gently kissed Gon on the shoulder and turned towards the doors. “Let’s go home~”


	3. Intermission 1

In a world filled with greed, war, and corruption, a group of abused kids has decided to fight back.  
There are now second chances for those who do not want to spend their entire adulthoods recovering from a “childhood” that hurt them.  
Of course, they’re hidden. Abusers and narcissists who have “lost” “their children” to “the system”, “evil psychologists”, “pedophiles”, “serial killers”, “government propaganda”, you name it, roam the streets yelling their kids’ names, search for their crowdfunding attempts on the Internet, submit missing person reports, and write scathing posts on social media, all to no avail. At the same time, kids research, save money, apply for “the surgery” and finally, escape.  
You can regress to any age before your original one. In the case that you choose one below 18, which is usually the case, you are placed with a guardian - or several, whatever you choose. Some are shocked by the fact that as many adults want to adopt a child as children needing families. These adults undergo a strict, detailed testing and selection process, including brain scans - no particular skills are needed, just kindness and a heart in the right place. Kids can choose criteria for their guardian, or get placed with one at random.   
Your memory is entirely wiped. Most of the time your name is changed. You will have no memory of a “previous” life lived, just records from the hidden hospital of your surgery in the care of your guardian. It is their choice to show these to you - or not.   
Your body is somewhat changed - your biological sex stays as it was, but you are changed enough to be unrecognizable to your previous “family”. Your brain regresses, and is given a chance to develop differently.   
No one will ever know that you have been adopted, except your guardian, who has signed enough non-disclosure agreements to keep you safe in every way possible. Should you accidentally encounter your old family, you will not recognize them, nor will they recognize you. You choose where to live in your next life.  
A group of abused kids has learned anatomy, biology, chemistry past all of humanity’s understanding, has synthesized the chemicals needed to erase memory and regress the brain, has collected millions in funding necessary to make all this accessible, and has done everything possible to give others a chance at a childhood worth living.


	4. Act 2 Scene 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made some edits to all the previous chapters, nothing major, just some more description than they used to have. Thank you to everyone who’s read and/or left kudos so far, and welcome again if it’s your first time! I really wanna fix the chapter titles from just acts and scenes (not a theater person, actually)(not sure if I like that concept because I want everything in small bits, because some part of me thinks it fits the idea of what I want for this story, or because Homestuck was literally my entire adolescence and now subconsciously influences every single thing I do) to add song titles that go with each little bit, but I don’t have them all planned out for the scenes that have been published so far, so that’ll have to wait.

Hisoka leaned into the backseat of his silver Honda and buckled Gon’s seatbelt for him, then closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side. He hummed quietly as he looked in the rearview mirror. It was still fairly early in the day, but the parking garage was already full and he didn’t want to risk hitting anyone on his way out. He turned around to see Gon staring out the window, then reached to the passenger side and brought out an iPad in a big green case.  
“We have a bit of a drive ahead of us, so here’s this in the meantime~”  
“Whoa!” Gon turned it on. “Thanks! Is home far from here?” he asked, swiping through the iPad’s home screens.   
“I’m afraid so~ It’ll be about two hours to our house, longer if we somehow get into traffic. We won’t have to drive this far ever again though, I promise~ Are you hungry?”  
Gon looked up and thought for a bit. “I don’t think so...I might be later though!”  
He didn’t get to have breakfast, or dinner the night before, Hisoka thought. He probably will be within half an hour. “If you decide you are, just say so and we’ll stop somewhere~”  
“Okay!” Gon answered, already starting a game.   
Hisoka eased out of his spot and drove out of the hospital lot. The first freeway exit he needed was unfortunately quite a bit away, considering this was a city. Thoughts ran through his head as he pulled to a stop at his first red light - if it takes more than 20 minutes to get out of this mess, I’m MAKING everyone in a two-mile radius get out of the way, then I’m glad Gon isn’t talking right now. I think I’d get way too distracted if he was, then he’s really just the cutest. I can’t wait to get to know him.  
Luckily for everybody in a two-mile radius, Hisoka got to the freeway fairly quickly, and when he checked his rearview mirror after merging he noticed Gon fully engrossed in a game.  
He remembered one of the things the doctor had reminded him of that morning. “He won’t talk much at first. His brain has everything needed to take in and respond to information from the outside world, but it’s best to take it slow. Getting home is one big step, eating, getting to know each other, you get the idea. He’ll get more talkative as time goes on, but it’s totally fine that he won’t be now as he adjusts to everything around him.”  
An hour later, Hisoka pulled into one of the bigger highway rest areas.   
“How does pizza sound?”  
Gon set the iPad aside. “Awesome!”  
“Let’s go~”  
They walked into the restaurant complex and headed straight for the pizza, where Gon chose cheese and Hisoka chose everything. They sat down at a table across from each other and Gon dangled his legs and looked around.  
“Hisoka, how come you look so different from everyone else? You look kind of like a clown!”  
“I can dress normally too, don’t worry~” Hisoka gestured to his gelled red-and-purple hair. “I can even have my hair down~ But I think that’s kind of boring, especially when I go new places. If I have to be serious, I’ll dress like everyone else~”  
“Oh, okay! That’s cool!” Gon answered and looked around again. “Well, I think you look the best here!”  
“Do I? Thank you so much, that’s very kind of you to say~” Hisoka smiled. “Let’s eat right now, and we can talk more when we get home~ I’ll admit I’m tired of driving already~”  
“Mmmhfhh!” Gon nodded with a mouthful of pizza. 

By the time Hisoka pulled into the driveway, Gon was sound asleep in the backseat, bent over sideways to lay his head on the middle seat with his knees bent up on one side. Hisoka turned around. “We’re home, Gon~”  
Gon gave no response. Hisoka chuckled, unbuckled his seatbelt, and reached all the way back to gently shake Gon’s shoulder. “Gon, we’re home~”

Gon opened his eyes and sat up quickly. “Home!”  
“Come on, let’s go in~” Hisoka gathered up his things from the passenger seat and opened the driver’s side door. “Can you unbuckle yourself on your own?”  
“Yeah!” Gon unbuckled himself and grabbed the iPad while Hisoka came around, opened his door, and stretched his hand out.  
Gon stepped out onto the pavement and looked around. They were on an average suburban street lined with average suburban houses. The specific one they stood in front of had a red brick path leading from the driveway to the front door, was two stories and built of reddish-orange brick, and had a dark shingled roof. A metal, curly 44 hung next to the door, and bushes lined the house on either side of the entrance.  
Hisoka and Gon walked hand in hand to the front door, then Hisoka released Gon for a second, opened the first glass door, then dug a set of keys out of his pocket, turned a large gold one in the lock, and opened the second, black door in.  
“Welcome home, Gon~”


	5. Act 2 Scene 2

Gon walked into a short hallway, and Hisoka closed the door behind them and stuffed his keys back into his pocket.  
“Your shoes go here~” Hisoka said, pointing at a small wooden shelf near the door. Gon looked down at the hardwood floor, then waited for Hisoka to finish taking off his heels before handing him the iPad and un-Velcroing his green sneakers.  
“Let’s go sit down~” Hisoka led Gon down the hallway, past a room on the right, into what turned out to be a living room. A large window in the corner shed light onto several bookshelves, a TV on top of a small dresser, and a squishy grey couch standing on a dark red patterned carpet. Gon jumped on the couch and Hisoka settled down next to him and put the iPad aside.  
“So, what do you want to do first? We can eat, or we can explore~”  
“What do you wanna do?”  
“I’m getting a bit hungry again, the pizza didn’t seem to be enough~ It’s your choice, though~”  
“Let’s eat! I’m hungry too.” Gon exclaimed and stood up. “Where’s the kitchen?”  
“It was the room to your right just as we walked in~” Hisoka stood up and followed Gon back down the hallway. “What do you want to eat?”  
When he walked into the kitchen, Gon stood firmly in the center, looking around from the silver fridge, marble counter and dark cabinets, around to the kettle, coffee maker, microwave, sink, dish rack, and stove, to the flower-curtained window facing outside and the dark wooden table right next to it, then back around to Hisoka and the entrance.  
Hisoka repeated his question. “What do you want to eat?”  
“Ice cream!”  
Hisoka shook his head. “That’s not an option for now~ Maybe for dessert. Let’s see what we have for before then~”  
He opened the fridge. “Milk, fruit punch, water for drinks, lots of fruit and vegetables - do you like grapes? - stuff for sandwiches...no leftovers from last night or anything. Let’s look in the cabinets~”  
Hisoka shut the fridge and moved to the first set of cabinets. “How about here...pasta, rice, all kinds of canned stuff, soup, crackers, mac and cheese...” he left them open and moved to the next set. “Cake mix, tea, coffee, sugar, hot chocolate, flour, marshmallows, frosting...okay, probably nothing from here.”  
Gon pointed at the first set of cabinets. “Mac and cheese? And chocolate milk.”  
“The soy milk?” Hisoka took the carton out of the fridge. “Sure~ How about some fruits or vegetables?”  
Gon silently pointed at the grapes, then the baby carrots. “These?”  
“That works~” Hisoka opened one of the lower cabinets and took out a pot, then filled it with water and turned on the stove. Then, he reached up into the last set of cabinets and got out two glasses.  
“Gon, can you get two forks from that drawer?” Hisoka pointed and got three plates from the dish rack. Gon got the forks, and Hisoka set them down near the plates, which sat on two white placemats.  
While they waited for the water to boil, Hisoka spread the curtains and Gon looked around again.  
“Hisoka.”  
“What is it?”  
“Are all those books in the living room yours?”  
“No, definitely not~ Most of the things here aren’t mine, actually~”  
“Whose are they? Do we live here alone?”  
“We do~ It’s just us here. I used to share this house with some people, and all these things were theirs. Then they moved, and said I could keep living here on my own, so I did~”  
“Do I have my own room?”  
“Yes, you do~ It’s upstairs, mine is there too along with the office~”  
“What’s in the office?”  
Hisoka poured the pasta in. “Well, I usually have a lot of studying to do, so I do it there because I can concentrate better than in my room~ There’s a table and a computer and more books, but those are mostly mine~”  
“What are you studying?”  
“I’m studying something at university called kinesiology - it’s the science of how people move~ In a year I’m going to get something called a master’s degree. I study lots of things besides that, like math, and chemistry, and psychology, and astronomy...”  
“Wow. That’s a LOT!” Gon exclaimed. “I don’t know what I want to study yet.”  
“That’s okay~ You’re only going into third grade, so you have plenty of time to decide~” Hisoka answered. “What do you like?”  
“Hmmm.” Gon rocked back and forth, then jumped. “Dinosaurs! And exploring, and fighting monsters, and green is my favorite color, and running around, but I like reading too, it’s just really hard to sit still sometimes!”  
Hisoka mixed the pasta with a spatula. “Do you know what a paleontologist is?”  
“Umm...” Gon rocked back and forth again. “Is that an explorer?”  
“Sort of~ It’s a person who studies the remains of dinosaurs or other animals, which are called fossils. You could be one of those, and study dinosaurs~ You could be an explorer and maybe even find a live one!”  
“Wow!” Gon jumped up and down, then looked around again. “Do I get to fight monsters too?”  
“You might~” Hisoka drained the pasta, then poured in milk, butter, and cheese, and mixed.  
Gon watched. “Can I cook it next time?”  
“Sure! Do you like cooking?”  
“I haven’t done a lot of it...” Gon rocked back and forth again. “I guess, though!”  
“Excellent, then we can try making things~ Personally, I’m partial to cakes~” Hisoka hummed to himself quietly as he distributed the mac and cheese, poured the chocolate soy milk, and got out the vegetables.  
“Where do I sit?” Gon asked, looking at the table.  
“Wherever you want~ If the chair is too low for you though, the seat on the short side over there has a pillow~”  
Gon sized up the chairs. “I’ll take the pillow!” He sat down on that side, where a fluffy forest green pillow decorated the rigid dark wooden chair. Hisoka placed a plate with grapes and baby carrots down on the table and sat on the long side, directly across from the window facing out onto the lawn. “Let’s eat, and then we can explore the house and I’ll show you everything~”  
“Can we have ice cream after this?” Gon asked through a mouthful of mac and cheese. “Pleeeease?”  
“Oh, alright~” Hisoka exaggerated his words. “We have rocky road, it’s chocolate with chocolate chips and some other stuff in it, or ice cream sandwiches~”  
“Rocky road is great!” Gon exclaimed and continued eating. Macaroni, chocolate milk, grapes, baby carrots, and ice cream later, Hisoka stacked the dishes in the sink as Gon waited in the doorway. “Let’s explore!”


	6. Act 2 Scene 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, this accidentally took forever and a half. 100+ hits, whoa! I know there are fics with hundreds of thousands, but honestly, I’m thrilled that a hundred or close to it people have wanted to read this.

“Well, we’ve been in the living room~” Hisoka started. “You can look through all those books if you want, I’m not sure what you’d like, and there are plenty of movies on the bottom shelf over there. The couch pulls out into a bed~”  
Gon looked at the coffee table. “A knitting magazine? Is that yours?”  
“It isn’t, I haven’t learned how to do that yet~” Hisoka answered.  
“What else is on this floor?”  
“Behind the stairs are the downstairs bathroom and the stairs to the basement~”  
“What’s in the basement?”  
“The washer and dryer, a smaller TV, mostly boxes of stuff, but there’s some space to hang out if you ever want to~”  
“Okay! Can we go upstairs?”  
“You live here, of course we can~”  
Gon bounded up the stairs and Hisoka followed.  
“To the left is your room, then the upstairs bathroom, then my room, then the office, and the stairs to the attic are in the office~”  
“Can we go to my room first?”  
“Of course~”

Gon’s room was papered with green dinosaur-patterned wallpaper. A bunk bed stood by the wall right next to the door. On the opposite sides - a dresser, bookshelf next to the window, half-open closet door on the other side, and a desk in front of the other window. Beige carpeting throughout the entire room, and a fluffy green rug in the center of the room. 

“Do you like it?”  
“Yeah!” Gon ran to the window, looked out, then ran back to spin in the middle of the room.  
“You can choose which bunk you want~”  
“Bottom one!” Gon spun again, then hugged Hisoka. Hisoka ruffled his hair and kissed the top of his head.  
“Don’t forget to look in the closet~”  
“What’s in there?” Gon ran to the door and opened it all the way. “Whoa!”  
Hisoka walked up behind him. “Button-ups like the one you’re wearing now, shirts, a couple more pairs of pants, boots. These are all things I thought you’d like, if you don’t then we can choose others.”  
Gon grinned. “Thank you, Hisoka! I love everything...well, I don’t know, because I haven’t worn anything else yet, but I think I do!”  
“I’m glad to hear it~”  
“Can we see the other rooms now? And then come back here?”  
“Of course~”  
They walked back into the hallway, and Hisoka pointed to the closed door on the left. “Upstairs bathroom, this one has a bathtub. Then this one is my room.”  
Gon pushed open the door.  
“It might be a bit messy-”  
Hisoka looked over the wide bed (made for once), open closet, bulging laundry basket, messy dresser and messier desk. Gon’s room was definitely cleaner. But...well, relative to what it could have looked like, this wasn’t even bad.  
“Now this is all yours!” Gon looked around. “Are those other costumes like the one you’re wearing now? And a suit? And...oh, good, you have regular t-shirts too.”  
“I told you, I’m capable of dressing normally too~”  
“What are the flags on the wall?”  
Hisoka looked. A large trans pride flag hung on the wall next to his bed, with a rainbow one next to it.  
“Well...the pink and blue and white one is because some people, like me, don’t fully identify with the gender the doctors said they were at birth~ So, for example, the doctors said I was a boy when I was born, so everyone though I was a boy when I grew up, it was written on all my paperwork~ But I’m not, and I’m not a girl either, I’d say I’m something in the middle, but I still prefer it when people call me a he, just not when they say I’m male~ Does that make sense?”  
“Yeah!”  
“So this morning, when you were at the doctor’s, they all said you were a boy, because you are~ But some other doctors, a long time ago, they decided you were a girl, so you might find a lot of people who think you’re not supposed to be a boy~ And I’m ready to fight every single one of them until they treat you right~” Hisoka looked down at Gon, who grinned, then continued. “The flag is here because I think I’m pretty awesome for being myself~”  
“Can I get one like that too?”  
“Sure~ I don’t have a second one now though, so how about I order one for you?”  
“Okay! What about the rainbow one?”  
“Well, a lot of people think that only boys and girls are allowed to love each other, so boys can’t love boys, or girls can’t love girls, and this doesn’t leave any room for people who aren’t boys or girls~ I think everyone can love whoever they want, and because I’m not a boy or a girl, I go against what those people think by loving anybody at all~ And again, I think it’s pretty awesome~”  
“Oh, okay, that’s cool!”  
Hisoka looked at the desk. “All the books piled up over there are mine, they’re for university so they’re not exactly for kids, but if you want to read any of them you can~”  
“Okay! Can we look at the office now?”  
Hisoka and Gon walked out, leaving the door open, and Gon led the way into the third upstairs room. A fancy wooden desk stood in the center of the red patterned carpet, surrounded by bookshelves.  
“One of the people who lived here before me accumulated a lot of books over his lifetime, and he kept them here~” Hisoka mused. “Now I study here a lot instead of at my desk, I can’t really imagine doing anything else here~”  
“You could draw!”  
“You’re right, I could. I should try that~”  
Gon yawned. “Is this it?”  
Hisoka pointed to the ceiling. “Well, if you pull that string up there, a ladder will come down to the attic, but it’s just full of dusty boxes, and none of those are mine~ I’ve only been there a couple times, and there’s nothing interesting~ Other than that, there’s the garage, which is pretty much lots of things as well, and sometimes, my car~”  
“Oh, okay! Maybe later then!”  
Gon seemed to think for a bit, and rocked back and forth a couple times. “Hisoka, I’m sleepy. I know I slept in the car, but it wasn’t enough.”  
“That’s okay~ Do you want to take a nap in your room, or on the couch downstairs?”  
“What do you want to do?”  
“I’ll go wherever you go~”  
“Let’s go downstairs, then.” Gon said resolutely.  
Half an hour later, the squishy couch had been turned into a squishy bed, and a Gon-blanket-pillow-stuffed dinosaur combo was curled up in the corner, sound asleep. Hisoka stretched out next to him and looked up at the ceiling.  
Hmm, what else to do today. Order Gon’s flag, get all this gel out of my hair, maybe some coffee...we’ll have to go to the library soon...  
Hisoka closed his eyes.


	7. Intermission 2

Bzzt, bzzt.  
Hisoka brought out his phone.

23:55

IZ (1 New Message)

“Would you look at that.” Hisoka looked over at Gon, who was still sound asleep, and swiped in.

IZ: So you actually went through with it?

HM: Of course~

IZ: How’s it going so far?

HM: Wonderful~

IZ: Can you give a bit more detail?

HM: I met him today, we got to know each other and explored the house, everything’s okay and he’s asleep right now~

IZ: What’s his name?

HM: It’s Gon, he’s 8 and he’s adorable~

IZ: Oh, that’s the same age as Killua! Maybe they’ll end up in the same class next year.

HM: They’d probably be good friends~

IZ: I’d hope so. Killua doesn’t have many so far. Seriously, though, why’d you decide to adopt a kid again?

HM: It got a bit lonely here alone~

Hisoka thought back to the first few weeks after the house had become empty. The grandfather whose wife had passed away while Hisoka had been in class...well, he had been very kind. Not every college student gets a house to themselves, especially not one already fit for living in. He said Hisoka could use it indefinitely, so he had done exactly that - woken up in the morning, driven to class and back, gone grocery shopping, taken over the study for good with his textbooks, and gone to bed at night. Nothing had changed, except it had.  
When he had chosen a place to live after the first four years of college, Hisoka had first and foremost looked for some peace and quiet. For a change. Living in a mod with the Phantom Troupe meant lots of drinking, some bickering, less sleep, and even less studying, and eventually it had gotten old, and it was time to try and be a functional adult. So, he rented out a room in a cozy suburban house belonging to an elderly couple and started out by getting some sleep.  
Surprisingly, the grandmother had loved him. She called him odd (“no, honey, in a good way!”), said that he reminded her of her son (now located quite far away), clapped at his card tricks, and baked him cookies and cakes which he took to university. The grandfather had been slower on the uptake (“he looks like a killer clown, I tell you”), but eventually took to him as well. Every night when Hisoka came home, he was met with warm lights and dinner and questions about his day and TV, and he had started to love it.  
And then it disappeared. Missed calls during class from the old man, impossible to call back, finally somebody picked up when Hisoka was already on his way home, “are you driving? Then wait until you get here” -- beep, and then the news. Heart attack, they couldn’t save her, silence and darkness and feeling like a giant third wheel. “It’s okay,” the old man had said, “you have just as much of a right to mourn as I do.” Then his son and family showed up and offered him a different place to live, and the man accepted. “Hisoka can take care of the house. For as long as you need to, no worries. Contact any of us if you need something.”  
Then, the emptiness. Hisoka tried turning all the lights on for his own dinner, baking himself cookies and cakes, asking himself about his day, and doing card tricks upon card tricks alone in the kitchen. But it was lonely, and there was no going around it.  
He didn’t want to invite anyone else from university to live here. They were all great, really...in small quantities. He didn’t want to rent out the other rooms, either - it’s not like he needed the money, and, well...he needed somebody to love. So he waited out the year, and found the perfect solution...

His phone buzzed again. 

IZ: So you got bored. Isn’t that the reason you went to college?

HM: Well, you’re not wrong~

Why would a 200+ level Heaven’s Arena fighter want to go to university? Especially one who had stayed undefeated until 200, who had made millions putting his flexibility, strength, and (cough) charm to good use, who could make millions more doing the exact same thing?  
It wasn’t like he wasn’t absolutely in love with fighting. Besides, Hisoka was excellent, and he knew it.   
Illumi, with whom Hisoka had discussed the proposal over coffee, had exploded.  
“Study? Are you serious? You spent your entire life doing what - ballet, gymnastics, martial arts, you’re one of the strongest in the whole Arena, and you wanna go to school? What do you even want to major in? You didn’t even do anything in school!”  
“That would be exactly the point~”  
“Huh?”  
“You asked what I wanted to study? Everything~ I didn’t do anything in school because I trained all the time. But I’d like to take a break~”  
“You could make so much more money! You’re not even 25 yet, you have years to get better and stronger, why throw all that away now?”  
“Illumi, my dear, are you worried that I’ll end up attending the same university as you? If so, you’re out of luck - that was exactly where I was considering...”  
Illumi boiled on the inside, and Hisoka applied to university and started packing up his things.   
After hours of dance, gymnastics, training every single day since childhood, Hisoka took a break. He still went to the gym regularly, but just focusing on class and socializing was a nice change from his previous life. 

IZ: Well, good luck. You’ll be less lonely with him anyway. Can I meet him?

HM: Not yet~ We’ve hardly gotten to know each other~

IZ: Makes sense.

That’s enough for tonight. Hisoka looked to his right. Still asleep.

What a wonderful day it’s been...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really really hated Illumi for being abusive and awful in the anime, but in this AU he’s mostly a decent person (at least he doesn’t make Killua’s life a living hell) and Hisoka’s friend.


End file.
